A Day to Relax

Saturday June 29

We started out this day with a drive to find another snorkeling beach. The first beach was at the end of a large lava field. It didn't looked inviting to me, yet there is a $1000 fine or a year in jail for walking in it.





The water was too choppy at that beach, so we continued looking, and found a little spot on the side of the road-Hikea Road turn out 3.



The water was calmer, but still to rough for me.


Quin had a great time though.









We also spent on hour watching locals surfing at another beach. That was fun, but I forgot to take any pictures. Quin did...of some dogs!






In the afternoon we spent time shopping and finding a place to eat shave ice!

We've been wearing ourselves out, so it was nice to stay close to our condo and relax today.


A beautiful ending for the day. Good night!

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More Maui Adventures

Friday June 28

We started our day with another walk by our condo. Here's another flora specimen I found intriguing-a fan shaped palm.





After our walk we went to an aquarium.


We enjoyed seeing sea life up close. It was fun seeing a few things we saw snorkeling, but there was oh so much more.








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This was a cool tunnel!


We made it out alive!

Next we had an amazing lunch of BBQ beef brisket and pulled pork with macaroni and potato salad as a side- that was a new one for me. We also bought me some see glass earrings from a vendor who collects the glass from the Maui beaches. I wonder what this glass used to be? A 7up bottle?


The daily adventure continued as we drove to the top of Haleakala mountain. It was interesting to pass through the different terrains as we went from sea level to over 10,000 feet.


The view of the mountain with the top covered by the clouds.


The drive up.


Haleakala Summit 10,023 feet.





Observatory



View of Haleakala Crater


Going down in the crater. This an erosion created crater, but the domes inside we're volcanic.


Down,


Down,


Down, and that's far enough. And the park ranger said to plan on double the time up as down, but we did it faster... No pictures on the way up. Ya, we're fifty something. :)


This park has plants indigenous to Hawaii, and only in this park.





These plants are metallic silver! They can live 50 years, but only bloom once, see above.














The drive down was a little like being in an airplane-flying a above the clouds.


Okay, one more plant, at the 2000 feet level of the mountain, crazy big, and part of someone's yard.

That was our Friday adventure. We were so tired, we slept great.


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Maui Hiking and Exploring

Wed. June 26 was an exploration day. First we wanted to take a walk on the beach near our condo.









Then we left our condo in Kihei and drove counter clockwise around the island near the coastline. Our goal was the Ohe'o Gulch, aka 7 Sacred Pools and the Pipiwai Trail.


We saw desert and rainforest and found the terrain diverse and interesting.







It took about 2.5 hours to drive 70 or 80 miles-Much of it on windy 25 mile/ hour one and a half lane roads. Sometimes you see a sign that says "blow horn" before you go around a corner, and there were many "yield to oncoming traffic" signs before one lane bridges. It was a gorgeous drive, and we were grateful we don't have motion sickness.



The hike was beautiful.


Intriguing tree roots on this tree.


A panorama of the pools.


Pools beneath each waterfall.

Next we hiked up the mountain to see more waterfalls on the Pipiwai trail. We were intrigued by all the flora on the way.






This bamboo forest was our favorite! It was long, and dark and the wind blew the tall tall trees together in a symphony of percussive sound.

This is the main waterfall, but we saw several more...Quin got more pictures.





A highlight on the hike was finding a huge mango tree and eating mangos that had fallen to the ground. They were so sweet!






Back from the hike. We began the drive back, but stopped along the way for...


Local baked goods! Here I'm hoping the banana bread really is the best on the planet!


Beautiful view on the 4 hour drive as we continued counter clockwise back to the condo.


What a day! We were exhausted, and ready for a relaxing evening at home---but I had remembered our evening schedule wrong!

As soon as we returned home, we grabbed a bite to eat, got cleaned up, and drove north east for 45 minutes to Lahaina for the Warren and Annabel's magic show. We almost missed it, but we were glad we went. It was very funny and entertaining. A show with just 80 people in the theater, and lots of audience interaction. We got home at 1:00 AM, that's 4:00 AM to our bodies. Zzzzzz. It was a big, long, memorable day.

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